In honour of a great pilgrimage

A couple of weekends ago I was out in Pretoria (capital city of South Africa) and
noticed the Voortrekker monument up on the hill ....  I had not been there since
high school, which if truth be told, was a very, very long time ago .....

Camera in hand, off I went.

I spent a great afternoon there in the tranquil nature reserve type gardens
enjoying the scenery and the fascinating history and architechure.

This first image (above) is taken inside the actual monument (see image below) where

the late afternoon sun was shining through the latticed glass panels

in a vibrant golden hue, creating both reflections and shadows

onto the marbled floor.

a view of the Monument on the hill (quite literally)

This monumnet commemorates the pioneers who travelled from the

coastal areas inlands between 1835 and 1855 -

this trip was called "The Great Trek". 

During this time approximately 15,000 pioneers moved inlands to establish the

provinces of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, effectively the start of

 South Africa as it was to become.

an outside shot of the stone/ brick work, bathed in afternoon sunshine,

creating soft shadows ....

an afternoon  garden view - the monument is surrounded

by a round wall mimicking a circle of oxwagons,

 which in fact are carved onto the wall ....

the real thing ... an old oxwagon ...

a gorgeous strelitzia growing the well kept gardens

view more Weekend Reflections here

more Scenic Sunday here

and more Shadow shot here

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud